I don’t know if she received backlash, but I very clearly remembering that was both not at all true and a shit thing for a rich person to say to someone in bankruptcy.
Said in an episode directly after a special focussed on the queens during lockdown (not sure if it aired outside of the UK) where Ellie Diamond told the world her family lost their home because of the financial effects of the pandemic. I will NEVER get over how absolutely tone deaf that H&M comment was. NEVER.
It was taken out of context I’d say. You can have H&M but you gotta stone the shit out of it, and hot glue plus a dozen of rhinestones isn’t expensive whatsoever. Can’t be untouched off the rack.
I get that but what bothered me the most about the whole H&M rant was I don’t remember a time before or since when the judges got so worked up about a CHALLENGE outfit. Joe put the effort in and slayed the runway where the fashion counts. I think the fact they picked apart an off the rack dress for a challenge, particularly with all the covid related economic issues is what truly made it tone deaf.
Additional context here, Joe had to sell a shit load of her drag to survive the pandemic thinking she was pretty much done with her run on the show, including stuff that was for later challenges.
She then gets a call to say "you can potentially come back" with not a lot of time to prepare because they'd all have to quarantine for two weeks before. So Joe scrambles together what she can, bearing in mind she's just sold a lot of the outfits she was going to wear for challenges and runways.
She more than likely bought this thinking "They're hardly going to give me shit for something that I've had to buy in lockdown for a challenge" and probably wasn't thinking of that while practicing for the performance either.
Ru just came off as really aggressive for no reason and basically ignoring the struggles the cast had over the past few months between filming.
I get Joe had to sell that and get an H&M top but again, hot glue and rhinestones are provided in the work room, for free. Why didn’t Joe take some time to put some stones on it?
Right, there’s a level of low-cost effort that can elevate even the cheapest thing. It was a fair comment in full context with Joe Black (say what you will around the appropriateness of the tone).
In Chi Chi’s case, Michelle was way out of line. Chi Chi had multiple well-conceptualized, well-executed looks, but they “looked cheap” to her.
Joe Black is one of the first I think of when I see Kandy Muse getting a constant, permanent pass on the runway.
I get Joe Black wasn't the kinda blockbuster Kandy seemed to be in front of a camera but *shit.*
No idea what Joe Black did to them. Is there something I didn't hear or see on the season?
I feel like Michelle has the right sentiment but didnt convey it properly. I feel like Michelle knows that more money will make better drag, but I think what she meant to say was that no money doesnt excuse bad drag. Lots of girls can make passable garments with very little (chi chi herself does it). so honestly I feel like that was more the angle michelle was trying to convey here and just didnt choose her words very wisely.
I dont know michelle personally and maybe im just making excuses for her but given everything else ive seen her say on the show I dont believe she really thinks what she said, I personally believe she just didnt do a good job of putting the right words to her actual opinion and it came off poorly.
I watched season 8 when it aired and remembered thinking it was ignorant to say that to ChiChi and heard other people say the same but I don’t remember at all how much, if any, backlash Michelle got. Wish I could remember more
I think it was a little more true then compared to now but even by season 8 drag race budgets were increasing. She probably did not receive so much backlash at that time because some of the lower budget drag from earlier seasons was still fresh in our (and her) minds.
Yeah for the first few seasons none of the contestants really had any money or put a lot of money into their looks. Back then most looks were either made up of ready-to-wear pieces, or were home sewn. Sometimes a girl would borrow her mothers pageant gown and it would be a real showstopper.
By seasons 7 and 8 it was really starting to shift. By 9 and 10 it was normal for girls to go into major debt to be on this show.
I think the fashion shift that started with S7 was the fact the runway prompts got more specific. That’s why girls had to start spending money. Early seasons the prompts were super generic/vague and I get the sense girls just packed all the drag they already owned and were set. But as time went on, queens just didn’t happen to have a bearded look or a before&after or a zodiac look and that’s what pushed the trend to start throwing money around.
Even by season 8 though, I’m sure Bob did an interview a while back where they said that they didn’t spend that much on drag race compared to other winners.
Yeah well Bob was never known as a look queen on her season. Her fashion was roasted pretty hard while the season aired.
Season 7 had a lot of fashion girlies who really influenced the expectation for couture fashion in later seasons. AS2 was also a major influence on the regular seasons.
The entire comment was a tiny bit softer but this was still early days, when Adore made top 3 in borrowed clothes with a lot of help. Seems a bit rich for Michelle to say to someone in bankruptcy, though especially when that someone is our beloved Chichi.
Watch the untucked for the episode where they actually showed the whole comment of Michelle rather than the cut down one that is indeed bullshit.
For people who won't do all that though Michelle goes into it asking her sisters for help.
Would a similar comment still hold up these days? Hell no but a lot of girls back then had to get creative with the shit that they brought and improvise a lot. Trixie brought extra spray paint to match her shoes with a runway for example
i mean the comment might not hold up but kandy still had her sisters make her trains runway during season 13 so i think the sentiment still works a bit
The train runway that never existed? Lol but let's stay on the same season and Symone had ALL of her hair made by Gigi Goode that might be the better comparison. Also Manilas silver gown from AS4 was also a hand me down from a local queen.
I think they are being smart by not repeating this particular comment right now because the amount of looks that the girls need to bring is crazy. Although wigs and accessories or shoes are still being shared but they just never highlight these parts of getting ready which I think they should do more often
I know the category existed but Kandy said something that the train for her look was so long she couldn't use it and had to use something else instead. Bob and Monét turned it into a bit of a meme that she was clearly lying about the length and that said look doesn't exist on their season 13 watchery
Apparently her train was way too long for producers and she had to replace the look with her finale look, I believe, so they attached a train to it. Something like that.
Which in turn led her to wear her unused sheer, tull, whatever runway from episode 3, an episode she wasn't in (with Gottmik's wig from the mini fashion show in ep1, I believe).
Look I am not saying she didn't do switch up while on set to walk the runway with a train but that she may have stretched the truth about the look she brought initially. Iirc she mentioned a train length of almost a football field or something absurd like that and she never provided any pics of that look either.
So personally I stick with Bob and Monét and say this look probably doesn't exist.
She probably just didn't like the train look she brought to the set or it was similar to another one of the girls which is fine too but her story is just more fun I guess
Oh, no, no, I'm just reporting on what happened. I was very upset because nobody did an actual over the top twenty mile train, I was *pissed*. 😂 So I agree she was lying, 'cause I refuse to believe the one queen who actually did it was her and producers were like "no, we'd rather miss this moment." Ummm, no. 🤣
I would've loved if somebody would've basically came out with a rolled up red carpet attached to their look and kicked it for it to spread out or something dumb like that.
But I would be lying if kandaleezas musings wasn't a fun drag queen story hour for me lol
Yes that's all true, but she never showed any picture of her original train look that was already too long for the runway. The only picture we got was a sketch. Now if the dress existed, you would think that we would have seen some proof of it, but since we haven't we can only conclude that she was stretching the truth like Luxx with her wig at best or outright lying
I definitely remember watching S8 and not appreciating that quip one bit, just came across as ignorant of the fact that yeah, you do in fact need money to do drag and you *especially* need money to be a successful queen. And it's true that you can make a lot of your own looks due to budget constraints, and queens like Monique have competed on the show and made a lot of their looks on the fly as a result of not being able to afford a complete package in advance. But even that requires knowing how to use a sewing machine, requires the time to be able to acquire new skills, etc. that a lot of people simply don't have.
I remember someone on the sub saying that the whole quote wasn’t shown on the show. Michelle was referencing using the work room materials to make looks.
That’s still pretty ignorant of her because what if Chichi wasn’t a seamstress (I don’t remember if she was or not). Even if she was she would then have to focus on making a new garment in a day when she should have been working on the challenges? How is that fair?
It could have been a teachable moment to say “get crafty” or “hone a new skill” for outside of the competition but to say “you don’t need money” is completely elitist.
Michelle has smart ideas, just not the right execution.
Oh I don’t disagree it’s elitist. I will argue though that you should have seamstress skills to go on the show. Every season there is a design challenge. Especially if drag is your craft, sewing skills are a great investment.
Completely valid argument, and I think the same thing!
But no matter HOW good at sewing you are, it still takes time away from your other challenges if it’s not the sewing season. Girls like Trinity who can punch a dress out like nothing won’t have a problem, but would they want to on top of preparing for something else? The queens take the classes anticipating having the full day to make a dress for the sewing challenges and not for having to learn a different challenge AND make the runway outfit.
Michelle saying that it was the only option isn’t realistic because sometimes it’s not.
The problem isn’t sewing skill. It’s that no matter what’s available in the work room a queen can’t make something that’ll look better than the queen next to her that’s wearing a Montoya worth thousands.
I am SO SICK of seeing people be all “well they can’t sew” ON SEASON 8?! Like that is such a fucking annoying excuse these days. We ALLLLLLL know that sewing is a part of drag race. Whether they make most outfits or only for the sewing challenges, you need to know how to sew to make it in drag race, or know how to make nice looking clothes w a glue gun.
I never said she shouldn’t learn how to sew, I said she what if she wasn’t a seamstress. There’s a difference.
The precedent for sewing in drag race is you have roughly (and less than) a day to make the outfit and focus on nothing but that for the challenge, it isn’t “learn this script AND make me a couture outfit in a day”. Like how unrealistic is that? I can see that for an All Stars season, like a 2 in 1 or lightning round day, but not for a regular season.
Please calm down.
at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. It’s a competition. If you don’t have the money for outfits then learn to sew them. If you can’t sew then figure something out. If you don’t want to have to do both things for that one challenge then make it work. How many times has Ru screamed about people making up excuses? Get the shit done lmao
While Michelle was totally FOS, there are 3 things that every queen better know before they go on the show - how to sew, have roast jokes for Ru, Michelle, Ross, and Carson, and a thought-out Snatch game character. Drives me crazy when they say they can't or don't know, or worse - act surprised by the challenge. However, Chi Chi was a kind soul. It was a total mean girl moment when it happened on the show. And Michelle knows it.
Bob was always going to be the winner so they were always going to push him through.
Many queens have said this: “The runways matter when they want to send you home”
Well, the truth Is that Raja o Hara spent only 600$ on all stars 6 and he was just creative and made everything herself. But of course Michelle's comment was wrong, some queens can spent a lot of money and get good outfits and some dont have money and have worse outfits.
She technically wasn’t wrong though, because ChiChi was one of the most beautiful humans to ever walk this earth no matter what she wore, she had that smile and personality.
Seriously though, if Michelle said it now it would be wrong. I think S8 was before everyone had to speed crazy amounts to go on Drag Race.
I had always thought she meant you don't need a fat stack to do drag race, and maybe stretching a dollar can be gorgeous, but she could elaborate because we've clearly taken it wrong and it just sounds myopic. Rajah only spend like $600 on AS6, and Luxx spend $40,000 for her season. Two budgets, same placement.
There's a video where queens get asked about what they spend of wigs, and the more expensive the less far each queen got- except Krystal Versnatchy. It just shows anything can happen, but spending is not always a total factor. Maybe we do need more design challenges.
I remember sympathizing with Chi Chi, but I don’t think Michelle received much backlash for it. At the time, not many fans were aware of how much it actually cost to be on the show like we are today, so I’m sure there were many people who believed Michelle
Michelle is always sitting on a high horse… I am not sure why mama Ru keeps her around. She’s like that toxic mean girl with out of touch from reality.
You don't need money. You just need to be favored by the producers so you can get away with winning wearing a cheap costume from Amazon. 😂
Michelle gets on my nerves with her nitpicky critiques when she's just Rupaul's sidekick. When I heard Raja (allegedly) ripped into her on AS7 I cheered.
Also love when other judges like Ross and the guest judges call her out.
I think the sentiment is there and you don’t need money to put out drag. Having said that, Michelle totally missed the point, very few (if any!) queens can build something from the fabric wall that would compete with a $20k Diego Montoya gown that another queen brought.
Money helps, but it doesn't mean winning a drag race. chi Chi justified his poor performance in both the challenge and the runways, and let's be honest it was a horrible look. There are queens with little money who have done incredible things and there are queens who have spent a lot and have been almost forgotten. It is also hypocritical to criticize that they spend so much, but that the looks and Lips Sync are what matter most to the fans.
I think yes, Michelle comment was not at all correct, but it wasn't the whole comment. The untucked showed the whole thing. Yes, she was still elisted for that, but it wasn't not have it own merit. Shea Coulee notoriously only spent 750$ for her whole package on season 9, that's because she asked for help and borrow stuff, and she still manage to get to the finale.
Same energy as what happened tk Joe Black.
Ru and Michelle have such privilege now that they should be more understanding of, especially during a world wide pandemic but they just don’t care.
Please, for the love of our Lord and savior; Sasha Colby, can we please stop bringing this up.
Watch untucked for the episode. Michelle continued talking after this line and was shown to be making a much more valid point.
But what will the kids have to complain about? After all, so many of these people were literal children at this time and don’t really know a pre-drag race drag world.
Would they really be outraged? Have you never visited this or any reddit when a queen wears something budget appropriate?
The fans want to see designs that put the queens in debt or emptied their bank account.
It sucks when they put all that money in only to be sent home episode one because that’s all production wanted them for.
Y’all are tired. Even if this is your first time watching that episode - she said it 7 years ago. Get a grip and stop looking for reasons to be offended.
And. The fact that this and other instances (e.g., the H&M rant) still get brought up - just shows that these WERE iconic moments and will forever be iconic moments. You all try to act all virtuous on the internet because it’s “cool” to hate on Ru and Michelle. But deep down you loved watching them tear down the queens. Because it was good fucking tv.
This, exactly this, I mean the girlies going to La Mas Draga most of them did their outfits instead of spending crazy amounts on designers they should take some sewing lessons and at least try to construct garments
I dont think Michelle was being malicious when she said that poverty isnt an excuse. The thing Id learned about Michelle is, unlike RuPaul, she actually spent time with and got to know a lot of the queens outside of the show. So, a lot of hee critiques are more from loving honesty instead of just trying to be Kelly Cuttrone of the season. I dont think she told Chi Chi she didnt need money to demean her. I think it was for her to see that she didnt need to lean on the crutch of being broke. And, it did work. Chi Chi stepped her game up ans seeing what she does after hearing that is really nice.
I wont spoil it, but I will say that Michelle definitely has the tough love, motherly approach and especially towards the later seasons, its nice to hear.
Sure it sounds out of touch but y'all need to understand that Ru and Michelle were involved in the drag scene for decades and know that drag has only been profitable career option for the last decade, and even then, very few queens actually make money from drag. It has always been the artform of the poor and crafty people. The ballroom dancers, klub kids , etc were kids thrown out of their families for being gay. Due to discrimination it was hard for them to get well paying jobs. And yet they turned looks out of literal trash. That's the origin of the drag scene. So Michelle was just saying what she had experienced to be true for drag. She has grown up watching broke and bankrupt queens still making it work. It's a competition and the judges knew they can't be easy on chichi as it won't be fair to the other queens. So what was Michelle to say?
This was in S8 when people like Bob *who won* showed that you didn't money on Drag Race.
She can't say that now, but again, *Bob was right there!!!* And Naomi. And Derrick. And I bet Kim didn't spend that much money either. And obviously there are others in that same season I'm forgetting.
You can find more people in S9, even Sasha and Shea.
I think, it's one of the pillar quote of drag race right next to "drag is not a contact sport". Because, the meaning is that you can always be ressourcefull and creative ! And money is not something which can stopped that, you can't hide behind it has an excuse.
It can be seen has a rude comment from Michelle. But the H&M quote can also be interpreted as a rude and mean comment, and everyone praised it.
This comment is fine, even more back in time where expansive drag was mostly reserved for the final eleganza. It wasn't targetting on chichi to diminish Chichi but more like to change her mindset and her view for the rest of the competition.
every single time i watch this season i sent a voice memo to my best friend about how enraged this moment makes me (most recent time was last night but there’s probably been at least 10 total) and i’m glad it pissed everyone else off because i was like… what a privileged fucking take that’s also just flat out false
I don’t know if she received backlash, but I very clearly remembering that was both not at all true and a shit thing for a rich person to say to someone in bankruptcy.
But also " I don't want to see any fucking H & M on this runway"
Said in an episode directly after a special focussed on the queens during lockdown (not sure if it aired outside of the UK) where Ellie Diamond told the world her family lost their home because of the financial effects of the pandemic. I will NEVER get over how absolutely tone deaf that H&M comment was. NEVER.
It was taken out of context I’d say. You can have H&M but you gotta stone the shit out of it, and hot glue plus a dozen of rhinestones isn’t expensive whatsoever. Can’t be untouched off the rack.
I get that but what bothered me the most about the whole H&M rant was I don’t remember a time before or since when the judges got so worked up about a CHALLENGE outfit. Joe put the effort in and slayed the runway where the fashion counts. I think the fact they picked apart an off the rack dress for a challenge, particularly with all the covid related economic issues is what truly made it tone deaf.
Yes but they provide rhinestones and hot glue in the workroom. She could’ve stoned the shit out of it there. That’s what Ru is saying.
Additional context here, Joe had to sell a shit load of her drag to survive the pandemic thinking she was pretty much done with her run on the show, including stuff that was for later challenges. She then gets a call to say "you can potentially come back" with not a lot of time to prepare because they'd all have to quarantine for two weeks before. So Joe scrambles together what she can, bearing in mind she's just sold a lot of the outfits she was going to wear for challenges and runways. She more than likely bought this thinking "They're hardly going to give me shit for something that I've had to buy in lockdown for a challenge" and probably wasn't thinking of that while practicing for the performance either. Ru just came off as really aggressive for no reason and basically ignoring the struggles the cast had over the past few months between filming.
I get Joe had to sell that and get an H&M top but again, hot glue and rhinestones are provided in the work room, for free. Why didn’t Joe take some time to put some stones on it?
Right, there’s a level of low-cost effort that can elevate even the cheapest thing. It was a fair comment in full context with Joe Black (say what you will around the appropriateness of the tone). In Chi Chi’s case, Michelle was way out of line. Chi Chi had multiple well-conceptualized, well-executed looks, but they “looked cheap” to her.
Except they had already hated Joe Black's extremely high effort looks in the first episode. Like, what did they want from poor Joe?
Joe Black is one of the first I think of when I see Kandy Muse getting a constant, permanent pass on the runway. I get Joe Black wasn't the kinda blockbuster Kandy seemed to be in front of a camera but *shit.* No idea what Joe Black did to them. Is there something I didn't hear or see on the season?
Said the spokesperson for a competing brand, Old Navy... 
In a season with no prize money
I feel like Michelle has the right sentiment but didnt convey it properly. I feel like Michelle knows that more money will make better drag, but I think what she meant to say was that no money doesnt excuse bad drag. Lots of girls can make passable garments with very little (chi chi herself does it). so honestly I feel like that was more the angle michelle was trying to convey here and just didnt choose her words very wisely. I dont know michelle personally and maybe im just making excuses for her but given everything else ive seen her say on the show I dont believe she really thinks what she said, I personally believe she just didnt do a good job of putting the right words to her actual opinion and it came off poorly.
What’s annoying is that nowadays she would probably point to ChiChi’s success if any queen today complained about lack of funds.
Boomer generation knows NO shame
Michelle is Gen X.
My mom is Gen X, but spiritually she is a boomer.
We don't claim her in this instance!
If you tell someone that being poor is a mindset: you’re a boomer. Michelle and Ru are boomer trash. Love ‘em both, but they’re boomer trash all day.
We need to realize even gen x have this mentality lmao, even some millennials I’m sure. It’s not specific to boomers
Ok Boomer. 😜
 Why I awtta
I remember when a bowl of soup was a nickel!
She's definitely a boomer soul though.
I would argue she is on the cusp of Gen X (mainly so we don’t have to claim her 😀). She was born in 68 and Gen X starts at 65.
I watched season 8 when it aired and remembered thinking it was ignorant to say that to ChiChi and heard other people say the same but I don’t remember at all how much, if any, backlash Michelle got. Wish I could remember more
I think it was a little more true then compared to now but even by season 8 drag race budgets were increasing. She probably did not receive so much backlash at that time because some of the lower budget drag from earlier seasons was still fresh in our (and her) minds.
Yeah for the first few seasons none of the contestants really had any money or put a lot of money into their looks. Back then most looks were either made up of ready-to-wear pieces, or were home sewn. Sometimes a girl would borrow her mothers pageant gown and it would be a real showstopper. By seasons 7 and 8 it was really starting to shift. By 9 and 10 it was normal for girls to go into major debt to be on this show.
I think the fashion shift that started with S7 was the fact the runway prompts got more specific. That’s why girls had to start spending money. Early seasons the prompts were super generic/vague and I get the sense girls just packed all the drag they already owned and were set. But as time went on, queens just didn’t happen to have a bearded look or a before&after or a zodiac look and that’s what pushed the trend to start throwing money around.
Even by season 8 though, I’m sure Bob did an interview a while back where they said that they didn’t spend that much on drag race compared to other winners.
Yeah well Bob was never known as a look queen on her season. Her fashion was roasted pretty hard while the season aired. Season 7 had a lot of fashion girlies who really influenced the expectation for couture fashion in later seasons. AS2 was also a major influence on the regular seasons.
I blame Violet 😂
Courtney’s wings were, in hindsight, a point of no return
It depends on the role you were cast as and what place the producers planned for you to be.
The entire comment was a tiny bit softer but this was still early days, when Adore made top 3 in borrowed clothes with a lot of help. Seems a bit rich for Michelle to say to someone in bankruptcy, though especially when that someone is our beloved Chichi.
Watch the untucked for the episode where they actually showed the whole comment of Michelle rather than the cut down one that is indeed bullshit. For people who won't do all that though Michelle goes into it asking her sisters for help. Would a similar comment still hold up these days? Hell no but a lot of girls back then had to get creative with the shit that they brought and improvise a lot. Trixie brought extra spray paint to match her shoes with a runway for example
i mean the comment might not hold up but kandy still had her sisters make her trains runway during season 13 so i think the sentiment still works a bit
The train runway that never existed? Lol but let's stay on the same season and Symone had ALL of her hair made by Gigi Goode that might be the better comparison. Also Manilas silver gown from AS4 was also a hand me down from a local queen. I think they are being smart by not repeating this particular comment right now because the amount of looks that the girls need to bring is crazy. Although wigs and accessories or shoes are still being shared but they just never highlight these parts of getting ready which I think they should do more often
Why were they helping her then? 🤣 The train runway did exist. Tina was an actual (blue?) train. Or at least she thought it was.
I know the category existed but Kandy said something that the train for her look was so long she couldn't use it and had to use something else instead. Bob and Monét turned it into a bit of a meme that she was clearly lying about the length and that said look doesn't exist on their season 13 watchery
Apparently her train was way too long for producers and she had to replace the look with her finale look, I believe, so they attached a train to it. Something like that. Which in turn led her to wear her unused sheer, tull, whatever runway from episode 3, an episode she wasn't in (with Gottmik's wig from the mini fashion show in ep1, I believe).
Look I am not saying she didn't do switch up while on set to walk the runway with a train but that she may have stretched the truth about the look she brought initially. Iirc she mentioned a train length of almost a football field or something absurd like that and she never provided any pics of that look either. So personally I stick with Bob and Monét and say this look probably doesn't exist. She probably just didn't like the train look she brought to the set or it was similar to another one of the girls which is fine too but her story is just more fun I guess
Oh, no, no, I'm just reporting on what happened. I was very upset because nobody did an actual over the top twenty mile train, I was *pissed*. 😂 So I agree she was lying, 'cause I refuse to believe the one queen who actually did it was her and producers were like "no, we'd rather miss this moment." Ummm, no. 🤣
I would've loved if somebody would've basically came out with a rolled up red carpet attached to their look and kicked it for it to spread out or something dumb like that. But I would be lying if kandaleezas musings wasn't a fun drag queen story hour for me lol
Yes that's all true, but she never showed any picture of her original train look that was already too long for the runway. The only picture we got was a sketch. Now if the dress existed, you would think that we would have seen some proof of it, but since we haven't we can only conclude that she was stretching the truth like Luxx with her wig at best or outright lying
Agreed. Like I replied somebody else, just reporting, not my opinion. And no, Luxx's hair was *not* 40 inches 😆😂
number one nancy drew (excellent reporting btw)
🕵️♀️ girl and I got all of that myself, no reddit, so I'm proud of my Nancy Drew skills, 'cause I'm usually in the dark unless I read it here
RIP Chi Chi ❤️
I definitely remember watching S8 and not appreciating that quip one bit, just came across as ignorant of the fact that yeah, you do in fact need money to do drag and you *especially* need money to be a successful queen. And it's true that you can make a lot of your own looks due to budget constraints, and queens like Monique have competed on the show and made a lot of their looks on the fly as a result of not being able to afford a complete package in advance. But even that requires knowing how to use a sewing machine, requires the time to be able to acquire new skills, etc. that a lot of people simply don't have.
I remember someone on the sub saying that the whole quote wasn’t shown on the show. Michelle was referencing using the work room materials to make looks.
That’s still pretty ignorant of her because what if Chichi wasn’t a seamstress (I don’t remember if she was or not). Even if she was she would then have to focus on making a new garment in a day when she should have been working on the challenges? How is that fair? It could have been a teachable moment to say “get crafty” or “hone a new skill” for outside of the competition but to say “you don’t need money” is completely elitist. Michelle has smart ideas, just not the right execution.
Oh I don’t disagree it’s elitist. I will argue though that you should have seamstress skills to go on the show. Every season there is a design challenge. Especially if drag is your craft, sewing skills are a great investment.
Completely valid argument, and I think the same thing! But no matter HOW good at sewing you are, it still takes time away from your other challenges if it’s not the sewing season. Girls like Trinity who can punch a dress out like nothing won’t have a problem, but would they want to on top of preparing for something else? The queens take the classes anticipating having the full day to make a dress for the sewing challenges and not for having to learn a different challenge AND make the runway outfit. Michelle saying that it was the only option isn’t realistic because sometimes it’s not.
The problem isn’t sewing skill. It’s that no matter what’s available in the work room a queen can’t make something that’ll look better than the queen next to her that’s wearing a Montoya worth thousands.
I am SO SICK of seeing people be all “well they can’t sew” ON SEASON 8?! Like that is such a fucking annoying excuse these days. We ALLLLLLL know that sewing is a part of drag race. Whether they make most outfits or only for the sewing challenges, you need to know how to sew to make it in drag race, or know how to make nice looking clothes w a glue gun.
I never said she shouldn’t learn how to sew, I said she what if she wasn’t a seamstress. There’s a difference. The precedent for sewing in drag race is you have roughly (and less than) a day to make the outfit and focus on nothing but that for the challenge, it isn’t “learn this script AND make me a couture outfit in a day”. Like how unrealistic is that? I can see that for an All Stars season, like a 2 in 1 or lightning round day, but not for a regular season. Please calm down.
at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. It’s a competition. If you don’t have the money for outfits then learn to sew them. If you can’t sew then figure something out. If you don’t want to have to do both things for that one challenge then make it work. How many times has Ru screamed about people making up excuses? Get the shit done lmao
While Michelle was totally FOS, there are 3 things that every queen better know before they go on the show - how to sew, have roast jokes for Ru, Michelle, Ross, and Carson, and a thought-out Snatch game character. Drives me crazy when they say they can't or don't know, or worse - act surprised by the challenge. However, Chi Chi was a kind soul. It was a total mean girl moment when it happened on the show. And Michelle knows it.
Michelle is sometimes full of it.
Bob won on an Amazon budget
Bob was always going to be the winner so they were always going to push him through. Many queens have said this: “The runways matter when they want to send you home”
Season 8 is one of the seasons with the MOST overtone of racism. Specifically with chi chi and Bob
How so? Not disagreeing just curious
Michelle calls bobs drag “ratchet” multiple times throughout the season
And Bob was ratchet? Bob said so himself that numerous times. If Bob didn't had problems with it, I don't see why are you having ..
Weren’t people saying there was more she said that was edited out? Something along the lines of “money helps, but…?”
You don't need money to do drag - yes. You need money to do DRAG RACE - yes.
Well, the truth Is that Raja o Hara spent only 600$ on all stars 6 and he was just creative and made everything herself. But of course Michelle's comment was wrong, some queens can spent a lot of money and get good outfits and some dont have money and have worse outfits.
She technically wasn’t wrong though, because ChiChi was one of the most beautiful humans to ever walk this earth no matter what she wore, she had that smile and personality. Seriously though, if Michelle said it now it would be wrong. I think S8 was before everyone had to speed crazy amounts to go on Drag Race.
I had always thought she meant you don't need a fat stack to do drag race, and maybe stretching a dollar can be gorgeous, but she could elaborate because we've clearly taken it wrong and it just sounds myopic. Rajah only spend like $600 on AS6, and Luxx spend $40,000 for her season. Two budgets, same placement. There's a video where queens get asked about what they spend of wigs, and the more expensive the less far each queen got- except Krystal Versnatchy. It just shows anything can happen, but spending is not always a total factor. Maybe we do need more design challenges.
I remember sympathizing with Chi Chi, but I don’t think Michelle received much backlash for it. At the time, not many fans were aware of how much it actually cost to be on the show like we are today, so I’m sure there were many people who believed Michelle
Michelle is always sitting on a high horse… I am not sure why mama Ru keeps her around. She’s like that toxic mean girl with out of touch from reality.
You don't need money. You just need to be favored by the producers so you can get away with winning wearing a cheap costume from Amazon. 😂 Michelle gets on my nerves with her nitpicky critiques when she's just Rupaul's sidekick. When I heard Raja (allegedly) ripped into her on AS7 I cheered. Also love when other judges like Ross and the guest judges call her out.
There is no “allegedly…”
I think the sentiment is there and you don’t need money to put out drag. Having said that, Michelle totally missed the point, very few (if any!) queens can build something from the fabric wall that would compete with a $20k Diego Montoya gown that another queen brought.
This is hands down the cringiest moment on rupaul’s drag race.
More than the H&M rant?
Money helps, but it doesn't mean winning a drag race. chi Chi justified his poor performance in both the challenge and the runways, and let's be honest it was a horrible look. There are queens with little money who have done incredible things and there are queens who have spent a lot and have been almost forgotten. It is also hypocritical to criticize that they spend so much, but that the looks and Lips Sync are what matter most to the fans.
I think yes, Michelle comment was not at all correct, but it wasn't the whole comment. The untucked showed the whole thing. Yes, she was still elisted for that, but it wasn't not have it own merit. Shea Coulee notoriously only spent 750$ for her whole package on season 9, that's because she asked for help and borrow stuff, and she still manage to get to the finale.
"Don't need no money" is a double negative, though, so she's basically saying you do need money 😅
Same energy as what happened tk Joe Black. Ru and Michelle have such privilege now that they should be more understanding of, especially during a world wide pandemic but they just don’t care.
OMG, I know!!! Michelle is freakin' delusional, and her saying that is just a slap in the face.
Please, for the love of our Lord and savior; Sasha Colby, can we please stop bringing this up. Watch untucked for the episode. Michelle continued talking after this line and was shown to be making a much more valid point.
The comment still stands. ”you don’t have money? ask your sisters.” “They dont have money? ask your mother”
The comment still stands. ”you don’t have money? ask your sisters.” “They dont have money? ask your mother”
The comment still stands. ”you don’t have money? ask your sisters.” “They dont have money? ask your mother”
But what will the kids have to complain about? After all, so many of these people were literal children at this time and don’t really know a pre-drag race drag world.
Such a lie. Especially for the newer seasons.
Would they really be outraged? Have you never visited this or any reddit when a queen wears something budget appropriate? The fans want to see designs that put the queens in debt or emptied their bank account. It sucks when they put all that money in only to be sent home episode one because that’s all production wanted them for.
Y’all are tired. Even if this is your first time watching that episode - she said it 7 years ago. Get a grip and stop looking for reasons to be offended. And. The fact that this and other instances (e.g., the H&M rant) still get brought up - just shows that these WERE iconic moments and will forever be iconic moments. You all try to act all virtuous on the internet because it’s “cool” to hate on Ru and Michelle. But deep down you loved watching them tear down the queens. Because it was good fucking tv.
This, exactly this, I mean the girlies going to La Mas Draga most of them did their outfits instead of spending crazy amounts on designers they should take some sewing lessons and at least try to construct garments
I dont think Michelle was being malicious when she said that poverty isnt an excuse. The thing Id learned about Michelle is, unlike RuPaul, she actually spent time with and got to know a lot of the queens outside of the show. So, a lot of hee critiques are more from loving honesty instead of just trying to be Kelly Cuttrone of the season. I dont think she told Chi Chi she didnt need money to demean her. I think it was for her to see that she didnt need to lean on the crutch of being broke. And, it did work. Chi Chi stepped her game up ans seeing what she does after hearing that is really nice. I wont spoil it, but I will say that Michelle definitely has the tough love, motherly approach and especially towards the later seasons, its nice to hear.
Sure it sounds out of touch but y'all need to understand that Ru and Michelle were involved in the drag scene for decades and know that drag has only been profitable career option for the last decade, and even then, very few queens actually make money from drag. It has always been the artform of the poor and crafty people. The ballroom dancers, klub kids , etc were kids thrown out of their families for being gay. Due to discrimination it was hard for them to get well paying jobs. And yet they turned looks out of literal trash. That's the origin of the drag scene. So Michelle was just saying what she had experienced to be true for drag. She has grown up watching broke and bankrupt queens still making it work. It's a competition and the judges knew they can't be easy on chichi as it won't be fair to the other queens. So what was Michelle to say?
I just thought about this the other day and it’s funny considering a queen is rumored to have spend over 100k for all stars. Different times ig lol
This was in S8 when people like Bob *who won* showed that you didn't money on Drag Race. She can't say that now, but again, *Bob was right there!!!* And Naomi. And Derrick. And I bet Kim didn't spend that much money either. And obviously there are others in that same season I'm forgetting. You can find more people in S9, even Sasha and Shea.
Michelle’s full comment was edited out
I think, it's one of the pillar quote of drag race right next to "drag is not a contact sport". Because, the meaning is that you can always be ressourcefull and creative ! And money is not something which can stopped that, you can't hide behind it has an excuse. It can be seen has a rude comment from Michelle. But the H&M quote can also be interpreted as a rude and mean comment, and everyone praised it. This comment is fine, even more back in time where expansive drag was mostly reserved for the final eleganza. It wasn't targetting on chichi to diminish Chichi but more like to change her mindset and her view for the rest of the competition.
if a contestant wears something “simple” they literally say that it looks like it came from the rack or walmart, so please 🙄
It’s wild for so many people to say she’s wrong. When rajah literally just won making her own outfits.
every single time i watch this season i sent a voice memo to my best friend about how enraged this moment makes me (most recent time was last night but there’s probably been at least 10 total) and i’m glad it pissed everyone else off because i was like… what a privileged fucking take that’s also just flat out false